Manila, Philippines – The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) government agency is eyeing an online shopping platform dedicated to the country’s micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the Philippine News Agency (PNA) first reported.
According to DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy, said platform would provide a complete e-commerce “ecosystem” from sourcing of raw materials, global digital marketing, as well as an e-payment system.
The platform, which will be operated in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), would be similar to other online shopping platforms such as Shopee and Alibaba.
“This will be integrated — they won’t have to worry about how would they transform their business from a brick-and-mortar into an e-commerce-enabled business. This will bring them up, make them more, and will become a major player. Because MSMEs have always been a major player in our economy,” Uy said.
He also added that the government would design the platform and the MSMEs would simply need to ‘register and be onboard’.
“They haven’t been able to shift their business into the e-commerce platform because of challenges. We’re here, and we’ll solve those challenges for them and make it easier for them to do,” Uy said.